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| Express your way to go card savings! |
The Easy Rort
This involves one lunch time one zone off-peak journey on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. This results in free journeys from Thursday morning (inclusive).
Zone 1-2 commuter (e.g. Cooparoo to Central) - saves $3.93/week
Zone 1-3 commuter (e.g. Mitchelton to Central) - saves $6.24/week
Zone 1-5 commuter (e.g. Kuraby to Central) - saves $10.35/week
Zone 1-13 commuter (e.g. Nerang or Landsborough to Central) - saves $26.88/week
The Pro Rort
This involves two one zone off-peak journeys on Monday and Tuesday. Maybe during morning tea, and lunch. Free journeys after the peak journey to work on Wednesday.
Zone 1-2 commuter - saves $5.25/week
Zone 1-3 commuter - saves $8.32/week
Zone 1-5 commuter - saves $13.80/week
Zone 1-13 commuter - saves $35.84/week
The Extreme Rort
This involves three one zone off-peak journeys on Monday and Tuesday. Maybe during morning and afternoon tea, and lunch. Free journeys from (and including) the peak journey home on Tuesday.
Zone 1-2 commuter - saves $7.86/week
Zone 1-3 commuter - saves $12.48/week
Zone 1-5 commuter - saves $20.70/week
Zone 1-13 commuter - saves $53.76/week (that's more than $2500/year!!!)
Plenty of commuters are taking advantage of this rort, which appears to be perfectly legal (meets go card terms and conditions). BrizCommuter knows quite a few Sunshine Coast Line commuters who are saving loads of money via this method. BrizCommuter even observed two other commuters doing the rort on the same bus today! Hopefully the number of commuters legally abusing the system, will force TransLink the the LNP Queensland Government to seriously re-think both fare costs and the fare structure before the next election.
Try 4 go cards and riding 26 times up and down Grey St. That's pro rorting!
ReplyDeleteI don't believe this is a rort at all. I certainly do it, have told translink I do it when claiming reimbursements and use the system to its fullest extent.
ReplyDeleteIf they want to have such a poor system, this is what they get. Of course it is the casual user who gets screwed everytime as none of these rorts are available to them.
Bzc the situation is different though for concessions.
Then there's the super-ultra-extreme rort: 6 x 1-zone off-peak journeys on Monday. In addition to the full fare Monday morning and afternoon, this makes free travel after the Tuesday morning fare in. I then swap cards with my partner on Monday night and do it all again on the second card resulting in free travel for the rest of the week for both of us.
ReplyDeleteNow that off-peak starts at 8:30am, I can actually get 7 x 1-zone off-peak fares in my day and the best part is my Manager is the one who got me on to us and supports us in trying to save the extra cash.
@Michael G Swifte - surely that's the get a life rort ;-)
ReplyDelete@Anonymous January 6, 2014 at 6:42 PM- when you swap cards with your partner and then ride on your partners card you are in violation of the go card terms and conditions. If you were asked by a transit officer to produce ID, you would be fined $220, and most like so would your wife for providing the card.
ReplyDeleteAs for the rest of it, go right ahead :)
Michael G Swifte- Why do you have 4 go cards? Sounds like another example of go card terms and conditions rorting.
As BzC clearly stated, this is about how to maximise your savings, whilst still complying with the go card terms and conditions. Riding on someone elses card, or using more than one go card does not comply with those stated T and C's. That is a rort and should be earning you a regular visit from your friendly senior transit officers.
As for everything else that complies with the Go Card T and C's, I say fare box leakage to your hearts content :)
@Garvin: They'd have to prove that it was done on purpose and be able to identify the cards...since they aren't registered who's to say that we have them by the door as we walk out and simply happen to pickup the other one by mistake ;-)
DeleteThe go card terms and conditions state "The go card must only be used by the authorised user or by the cardholder if no authorised user is nominated". Thus cards are not transferrable.
ReplyDeleteIf a card is not registered then there is not really any way that the transit officers would know that it has been transferred. However, unregistered cards have many disadvantages in terms of account management.
BrizCommuter only supports lawful rorting of the flawed 9 and free cap, and does not support anything that breaches TransLink's terms and conditions for go card users.
BrizCommuter only supports lawful rorting of the flawed 9 and free cap,
ReplyDeleteNow that is the spirit :) :) :) :) :)
Cool, I'm going to quit my job and do this full time! $$
ReplyDeleteClearly there's a market for professional go-card trip users. i.e. people who take rides on your card while you're at work.
DeleteTo the others re: Michael - I know he was promoting himself as doing a little 'business' where for a fee, he would rack up people's Go Cards to give them free travel sooner. Obviously that's a breach of the T&C, and I'm sure that the authorities will be interested in that.
ReplyDeleteYes, racking up other peoples go cards (even without a fee) is in breach of the terms and conditions, and would probably result in a very big fine and criminal record!
ReplyDeleteI think both BzC and I, at least, were hoping that fellow commentators, would actually comment and provide legal suggestions on how to exploit the 9 then free go card rort, or the 2 then free concession rort.
ReplyDeleteRather than behaviour that is a clear violation of the go card Terms and Conditions.
I get paid more per hour than the rort is worth of my time...hardly a rort
ReplyDeleteGarvin - we already know how to legally fort the 9 then free. How to legally fort the 2 then free has been covered by RailBOT.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - the point of doing the rort is to protest against the unacceptably high fares and flawed fare structure. However for some commuters, serious savings can be made.
BTW, this post has now had more hits than any other BrizCommuter blog post. There are a lot of commuters very angry about the fares!
ReplyDeleteGarvin - we already know how to legally fort the 9 then free. How to legally fort the 2 then free has been covered by RailBOT.
ReplyDeleteCan you provide the link to this please?- Attempting to find on RBOT, but finding it difficult.
Anonymous January 7, 2014 at 9:21 PM- I get paid more per hour than the rort is worth of my time...hardly a rort.
ReplyDeleteFor some, the ability to make the saving is very simple. If you work in the city, it could be as simple as choosing where you have lunch. You just choose to have it at a different location, catch the bus one stop, have lunch there.
Or you just walk back a couple hundred metres and have saved many dollars. Would you rather the money in your pocket or the Governments? They are going to get the money in go card fares anyways, so why not try and delay that as long as possible by using their own terms and conditions to maximum effect.
If they want their own commuters to stop doing this, then reduce the fares, get rid of nine then free.
Also, I would prefer to see point to point for working out fares, rather than zones, but that is another bug bear.
Still looking for other ways to 'rort' nine then free :)
The easy, pro and extreme cover the 9 to 5 worker, what about for shift workers who might be starting earlier. Or are starting on a Wednesday or Saturday :)
I commute from Caloundra to RBWH, 5 days a week, and the go card rort is saving me more than $50 a week. Long may it continue!
ReplyDeleteIs Brisbane the only place on earth stupid enough to have a certain number of trips then free system with zones?
ReplyDeleteGreat idea tell everybody so they take the 9thenfree away!!
ReplyDeleteThat's the point, the 9 and free shouldn't exist on a zone based system, it's resulting in long distance commuters doing the rort only paying around $10-20 more than shorter distance commuters not doing the rort. Most sensible fare structures have daily and weekly tickets with fares based on the zones you use. Obviously the price of this weekly ticket has to be at an attractive price - that will be the big issue in SEQ.
ReplyDeleteI use to live in Brisbane and get my 9 trips done by Tuesday lunchtime. I would catch a bus down George St between Turbot and Tank Streets (approx 200 m) during my morning coffee break, lunchtime, afternoon coffee. I loved the free travel for the rest of the week that I made sure that I caught public transport more than drive my car for trips other than heading to work. Therefore the benefit for everyone else was the less congestion on the road.
ReplyDeleteIf a few people are prepared to sacrifice work breaks ( 10 mins?) for a bus / train ride then go ahead, they deserve it. Life is too short to spend it riding on public transport to save a few dollars. How much is your hourly rate? What happens when your boss decides to check up on your break times and you lose your job?
ReplyDeleteI only used unregistered go cards. That means that I was the card holder. Fully within the terms and conditions. If I had been asked by a ticket inspector to hand the cards over I would have complied (also part of the terms and conditions). I only did my rort as a protest. I tried but failed to develop a money making idea for bicycle couriers. I did this in the hope that it would challenge Translink to bring in a daily cap.
ReplyDeleteNothing in the terms and conditions says I can't use more than one unregistered card at a time.
ReplyDeleteMichael G Swifte - you cannot transfer unregistered go cards, as the card holder is the card holder whether or not it is registered. You can only use one go card per trip.
ReplyDeleteI doubt they care or would even be able to check.
ReplyDeleteHave seen many people getting off with $0.00 showing as fare on Monday 9:00am. How do they do it?
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous People showing $0.00 fares on Monday mornings are probably travelling within a single zone (e.g. Zone 1 to 1) after having already travelled within that same Zone in the preceding hour (e.g. from Zone 2 to 1). The first trip (which you didn't see) would have incurred the fare, meaning the second trip (which you did see) incurred no fare.
ReplyDeleteI reside beyond Zone 10 (past Beaudesert). On Monday mornings, I drive up to my Mum's house at Norman Park (Zone 2). I do three off-peak Zone 1 trips on Mondays, stay at my Mum's overnight, three more trips on Tuesdays, then drive home on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesdays to Fridays, I drive to Beaudesert and take the 10-zone journeys to and from Brisbane free of (further) charge.
With still having to drive a bit, it's complicated to work out how much I save by staying overnight one night each week and doing the off-peak trips – not least because I would never consider simply copping the 10-zone fare nine times each week – but using the rort at least means that I can afford to stay at home most nights, rather than staying away from home and not seeing my wife and young daughter between Monday and Friday.
The 9-then-free rort is ridiculous! Long live the rort!
Another thing I've recently started doing: on Monday evenings, I ride my bike to Norman Park train station and touch on; I then ride to Coorparoo station and touch off, before riding back to my Mum's house (halfway between the two stations). I can do this hourly, irrespective of whether there are trains travelling when I want to do my touches. This is handy if I'm particularly busy during business hours on Monday, or if I know I won't have time to do the trips on the following Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteDo you have to actually USE the train, or can you swipe on at Station A and walk 100m down the road to Station B and swipe off?
ReplyDeleteI can't see anything in the Terms and Conditions that says you have to...
HOw much would people be willing to pay (opn a Monday morning) for a card that has already racked up enough journeys to be in the free zone?
ReplyDeleteAzz - That would be outside of the go card terms and conditions and would land the seller and buyer in hot water.
DeleteDoes anyone know if city cycle counts as a free trip? What would happen if i touch on there pull out the bike then put the bike back in 10 seconds later etc? is that a journey?
ReplyDeleteThe nine amd free page says nine and free excludes airtrain. Does anyone know if that's just if you touch of at the airport? I do GC to Brisbane CBD each day.
ReplyDeleteYes just means actually going to the airport. The Gold Coast to Brisbane air train still benefits from the 9 and free deal, so it's open for this rort.
DeleteI jump on the bus and touch on by the driver and then immediately by the door and get off. I do this every Monday lunch and in no time at all I have paid for my weekly travel 10.75 from Helensvale to Brisbane and then 8 x 2.68 for a total of 32.19 per week. however I was told today that I actually have to take the journey or its classed as fare evasion? is this against the T & Cs??
ReplyDeleteUsed GoGard. I have been using the GoGard to commute to City CBD every day from the burbs. The fare is too expensive and excessive compared to other cities in first world countries where a single fare is applied. Eg. Darwin, Honolulu, Miami, let me know.
ReplyDeleteOn Monday and Tuesday I go to catch a bus during my short break. The bus is late and after tapping on, I ask the bus driver to drop me at the corner. She won't so I decide not to ride the bus. I ask the bus driver for a refund but because of the Consumer Protection Laws, I am not entitled to a refund if I change my mind, so I Tao off and an charged a fare. I am am to pay this as these bus drivers are paid the same if they drive long routes or short routes and the collected fare is helping pay for taxes to pay my Family Tax Rebates and Negative Gearing.
How much would you pay for a used gocard. Open for discussion over the next couple of months whilst I stay in Brisbane.
I am astounded that it took the good people of Brisbane this long - the 'feature' existed the moment the system was introduced.
ReplyDeleteWhat are you talking about? Have a look at the date of the original blog post. Jan 6 2014.
ReplyDeleteThe pathetic part is the media recently commenting on this "major $14mill at tax payers expense" (sources please tlink/media). What on earth will they do to stop this? Charge more for people who live in Brisbane who are local commuters (being charged the small fares anyway)? Charge less for long distance commuters? ..or maybe force even more people to find other transport alternatives as this is the last straw with these pathetic fat-cats.
ReplyDelete#wheretheofficersat
I save $90 a week from GC to bris
ReplyDelete